When it comes to sales force effectiveness, do we believe that one-size-fits-all? This is a question that we have to ask ourselves after all, due to the fact that the average pharmaceutical sales force budget is under considerable pressure and the pharmaceutical consultant is being asked leading questions by senior management within the company. While it is always true to say that the 80/20 rule is a fantastic indicator throughout the business world and we know that a certain proportion of our sales force is going to be highly productive while many are not, it’s high time that the typical sales company and pharmaceutical consultancy addresses exactly how salesforce effectiveness is – well, just not effective.

Consider many of the metrics that are traditional in our world and consider the approach that is often used as a sweeping, across-the-board approach to the issue. We are far too willing to accept generalities and not prepared to investigate segmentation, so it should not be surprising that we have less than spectacular results. For example, high-volume prescribers are almost universally targeted, purely due to the fact that they spend a lot of money. Often, an approach to this particular doctor will be based on an assumption that he or she is inclined to spend in this particular niche, without regard to that individual’s particular circumstances, triggers, drivers, likes, distastes or motivators. It’s almost as if they are treating the professional as an automaton and this is surely not what pharmaceutical marketing training seeks to teach, is it?

Industry intelligence can be very valuable and can show how effective a company’s competitors are at reaching a particular professional. It’s not acceptable to use this metric alone when deciding to target, yet this kind of broad brush approach is often used. Results may have been incurred, but the results could have been far better and perhaps more fruitful if the professional had been approached from a different angle. In the quest for the correct tactic and approach, we need to analyse the group behaviour of a broad range of end-users, instead. We cannot assume that a particular course of action is going to work and we need to dig deeper to really find out what drives a decision-maker to make that decision. Through a process of segmentation, we can arrive at a variety of different categories and can start to explore more productive results. The pharmaceutical consultancy must embrace diversity and move away from a rather general, middle-of-the-road approach to pharmaceutical marketing training in the modern day.

In the past, it may have been acceptable to buy potentially valuable “intelligence” data, lists and resources from traditional sources. Many of our competitors could have access to the same lists and it is little wonder that certain doctors feel that they have been overly targeted and are suffering from consultant overloads. It is inconceivable that we could be relying on this style of approach considering how much is at stake and the pharmaceutical consultant really needs to steer senior management toward a better way of analysing data, to come up with a much better solution. Members of the salesforce itself may already have a lot of this data and intelligence, due to their one on one interaction over the years. Use this kind of intelligence wisely.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

What will it take to survive in the pharmaceutical sales industry? The older, conventional approach to the role of sales and marketing in the field has to change and we need to completely re-evaluate the way that pharmaceutical marketing training is rolled out. For far too long now, conventional methods of engagement have been celebrated, where a sales representative is expected to “detail” with a set number of healthcare professionals in a certain region, over a set period of time and according to given parameters. Success was often measured in terms of percentage of penetration and the focus was product-centric rather than client- or problem-centric. The pharmaceutical consultant has been waking up to the fact that the industry is changing significantly and we need to change our approach to business tactics and methodology, or we will be left behind. All that traditional pharmaceutical marketing training will become increasingly irrelevant.

While a pharmaceutical consultancy can help the client organisation to develop a new approach to the challenges ahead, it’s at the sharp end that the majority of changes need to take place. This will require reinvention of the very make-up of a sales representative. Can this be accomplished with the existing staff of reps? Certainly, entrenched attitudes and approaches need to be overcome and the rep encouraged to develop a more “entrepreneurial” approach to doing business. In many respects, the sales rep should be treated as if he or she was a purely independent contractor, at least in terms of the way that they motivate themselves to generate income.

An entrepreneur finds a solution and does not take the word no for an answer. This will often involve innovative thinking and will require a greater understanding of the problem and, indeed the client. The new entrepreneurial sales representative will be far more engaged with the buyer and will be able to reveal intelligence that can be of great value to the company, so the pharmaceutical consultancy should develop the concept of a think tank to correlate all this new-found data. For the sales rep, this will require a huge change in the traditional way of thinking, as they now need to pool all this intelligence in order to give everyone the ability to grow, understanding the market much better and leading to a sharply elevated sales potential all the way down the line.

There was a time when hunger was created among the sales force by comparing peer performance. The rep with higher revenue was seen as superior and this in turn was used to motivate the remainder of the force. The pharmaceutical consultant today must realise that this is counterproductive in the long run and that an entrepreneurial sales rep must be trained to contribute to the overall goals of the sales team, in order to be more successful. The issues of motivation and remuneration must be approached from a completely new angle, but when all is said and done this entire process is far more likely to result in a much more fruitful relationship between the end-user and the rep. It is definitely time to employ this kind of new approach, as we certainly know that the typical practitioner is far from happy to see the sales rep today, as it is perceived that there is no real feeling of apathy or understanding, anymore.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

Don’t have any confusion about it, buying a business for sale is a multi-step process with each step being essential. Many times you may not proceed to the next position until you complete the preceding step and you should never be tempted to short-cut the process at all. Adequate preparation and time spent revealing everything there is to know about the business will be well spent here and will help to ensure that no horror stories are uncovered once you take the helm.

A lot of information can be revealed before you even talk to a prospective seller. But hold on for just a second, are you really sure that you possess the level of enthusiasm you need for this type of business? Do you really want to be involved in that industry and does it represent an area that you truly want to be engrossed in? Unless you intend to be a completely “hands-off” owner and are therefore taking considerable additional steps to ensure your safety, it is far better for you to be involved in an industry that you have a good feeling for, if not a considerable level of enthusiasm.

A process of due diligence requires you to inspect all kinds of documentation:

* Financials: these documents will include balance sheets, payroll records, tax reports, reconciliation documents and profit and loss statements. If the seller claims a considerable amount of “cash sales” but cannot point to these within tax declarations, then they cannot be counted and you must ignore them.

* Employee records: including longevity, pay scales, behavior, and attendance.

* Licenses: these will include county, city, state and federal licenses, as well as any certification you need to operate the business. Be prepared to consult records independently to see if there have been any discrepancies or problems in the past.

* Equipment records: detailing the age, cost of replacement, any required inspections and associated results and details on maintenance investments.

* Inventory records: including turnover, condition, and re-saleability.

* Supplier contracts: are they transferable, do you have alternatives and is there goodwill?

* Property records: are any rental agreements transferable to you without any problem, as this can be particularly important.

If you find that all records, licenses, contracts and agreements are in order and are workable for you going forward, you may be wondering how to arrive at a good value when you buy business assets. A number of different ways to look at this exist. Some of the methods used to calculate include:

* Asset-based multipliers, where assets are totalled and value is determined.

* Rule of thumb, where industry benchmarks are used to establish the value (not recommended).

* Revenue-based multipliers – a percentage is applied to monthly or annual revenues (not recommended).

* Cash flow multiplier, is where a business owner’s profit level is added to his or her salary and any other perks and certain expenses are deducted. This is most often the most appropriate way of valuing the business for sale.

While there are many documents and figures that can be proven to backup an owner’s claim, or not as the case may be, you need to take into account significant facts. You need to look at the reputation and age of the business, what level of competition you may expect, the existing legal structure, quality and physical location of the premises and last but by no means least, the difficulty in obtaining a new lease. When looking at a business for sale, take everything into account as you determine whether you should buy a business like this.

Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream to buy a business.

Do you see the prospect of buying an existing business for sale as being a leap in the dark, as this discourages many an enterprising individual? If they have never been involved in such a transaction before, it can seem to be very alien. Most of us are used to engaging in transactions where we buy a tangible product like vehicles or houses and in these cases “what we see is what we get.” To value a business correctly, you need to look at a number of different intangibles as well as assets that need to be inspected and you also need to consider goodwill in many situations. In a service related business, goodwill and a maintainable client list can be critical elements, but the process of due diligence involves the revelation and exploration of numerous areas and documents.

It’s important to remember that there are two distinct and different viewpoints. The seller will have a clear indication of the worth that he or she places on the business. This may often be inflated by a natural enthusiasm and the sheer amount of hard work and dedication that may have been put into the business to this point. Never disrespect the sellers’ point of view of course, but look at the documentation and evidence that you will find in the cold light of day and remember that it is entirely up to you to determine if you’re going to get involved and buy business interests in this way, according to your value parameters.

After you decide you need to move forward and you have really determined whether you want to buy a business of interest, get ready for a very lengthy process. At this time, you had better have a good level of common sense and humor and be ready to communicate at length with the seller.

This is where expert advisers will come into their own and if you have no real experience with this kind of business, its related market or niche, utilize proven resources and get as much help as you can. This is not to say that you will simply hand off all the work to these advisers, barely looking at the documentation presented to you, as the decision-making must in the end be made by you and you alone. The financial documents and all of the paperwork must be reviewed by you first to be sure that you have a great feeling initially before you hand them over for further processing by your experts.

A red flag will be raised if some of the financial documents are incomplete, information is missing, or they are poorly balanced or even not reconciled. Certain precedents must be maintained and accounting procedures completed. You may be asked to sign some non-disclosure or non-compete documents before these are made available, but the financials are the rock upon which everything else is built.

No two businesses are alike and every operation is dynamic in its own right. So many external influences are involved and any number of different events can come to bear to create a variety of different situations. Expect to uncover some unusual facts and figures or surprises and remember that, while industry benchmarks are interesting, a lot of the information you discover here will be a function of real-world activities.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

It’s very difficult to get ahead of the game in the pharmaceutical sales business and a training consultant must be able to look at a whole list of different criteria in order to motivate the sales force to succeed. The goal of first-rate performance is achievable if the consultant is able to help the client understand and first define benchmarks and competencies. Without the ability to measure these competencies, goals cannot realistically be set and individuals may not aspire to meet them. It is therefore important that the pharmaceutical company understands and helps to develop the framework at the outset.

When certain sales targets have been identified, marketing positions that are specific to those goals must be designed. It is important to understand what is expected of each role and to clarify the individual’s responsibility and methodology. It is likely that each role within an organisation will retain certain uniform competencies, which could be regarded as core principles, but it is very important to accurately define the competencies that are specific to the role and thus must be mastered by the individuals so assigned.

Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical sales training uses the latest strategies and theory, as well as experience gained by the consultant and his organisation in the process of building ability. Selling skills are very sophisticated these days, and rely on personal interaction rather than a straightforward focus on the achievement of goals. Each individual buyer is somebody different and there are many external factors influencing the decision-making process, but the salesperson must be fully aware of that individual’s position before he or she is able to accurately and confidently disseminate the correct product knowledge and advice.

These days, pharmaceutical sales training will help to instil the company’s brand strategy and overall objectives, so that the salesperson fully understands what the company is trying to achieve from a broader perspective. The consultant imparts to the salesperson how the market is made up, how certain levels of strategic marketing can best push the brand and how the most modern communication methods can help.

Today’s salesperson must be very good at communicating and understand the intricacies of public relations. We could go so far as to say that the relationship between the buyer and seller in the modern pharmaceutical industry is based more upon an exchange of information. In addition, the salesperson really must understand what factors influence the buying decision and will come to realise that many of these are subtle and somewhat subliminal.

If an account is determined to be principle and essential to the pharmaceutical company’s existence going forward, key account management training must ensure that the individuals responsible for handling these accounts are up to speed. Standard sales and closing skills will not be sufficient alone and more focused and specific skill sets could be required. Key accounts are often looking for a two-way interaction and for the pharmaceutical company to help establish the position of the key account in one way or another. Everyone involved in servicing this account must be consciously aware of the special techniques applicable, whether or not a particular individual is actually responsible for hands-on deployment.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

The role of the pharmaceutical sales representative has often been challenged from a public relations perspective. There are some who believe that the pharmaceutical company, through their representative, retains more than the appropriate share of influence over the healthcare practitioner’s decision-making process. From time to time, populist media points out that far more is spent on pharmaceutical marketing than research associated with the development of the products. Be this as it may, certain pharmaceutical marketing techniques are very necessary should the practitioner be made aware of all the information needed, allowing an informed decision to be made about the prescription of a certain product to a certain individual. As part of this process, the sales force is critical in promoting the product within the market, efficiently and profitably.

In most recent times there has been a move in certain markets to restrict the giving of gifts, including drug samples, by pharmaceutical sales people to practitioners. One of the largest physician and hospital networks in Massachusetts, Partners Healthcare, has published guidelines that prohibit any researchers and physicians from within the network from receiving drug samples or gifts from any pharmaceutical makers. So stringent are the rules, that even sales representatives must apply for permission before they can even interact with any employees of the network, with a redistribution of any provided drug samples to an anonymous distribution system, spreading their availability throughout the entire network. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the guidelines as written correspond to a “serious and comprehensive step forward in the rapidly evolving arena of medicine and its relationship with industry.”

According to the originators of this policy, the recommendations came from an internal review, where potential conflicts of interest were analysed over the preceding two years. There was no question that the relationship between a healthcare professional and the pharmaceutical company was an important one, but that some of the techniques used, according to the network, went further than the straightforward dissemination of scientific knowledge, and indeed potentially compromised the system’s integrity.

Some have suggested that gifts or drug samples may adversely affect the healthcare professional’s neutrality and may promote them to issue or prescribe the associated drugs more favourably than any others.

It remains to be seen how the developments in Massachusetts pan out, or whether similar proposals are adopted within other networks or jurisdictions. This does represent another example of how the pharmaceutical marketing industry is changing and moving with the times. Once again we can see why pharmaceutical consultants are so important to the pharmaceutical company and how they should be brought into the picture to help the company remain competitive. Healthcare legislation is all around us, even as we are all getting used to the importance of new communication methods and as such pharmaceutical sales training is so important. The significance of primary accounts will increase in the market, as there is more reliance on two-way communication and information exchange. Thus key account management training is a critical component of pharmaceutical sales training and the competent pharmaceutical marketing consultant is best positioned to handle it all.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

The pharmaceutical company is constantly trying to make sure that it has the right sales people at its disposal and must pay a lot of attention to how it attracts, motivates, handles and manages them. After all, the company has built a great position for itself in the market and has put a lot of effort into developing its product line and polishing its reputation. Each company is of course very complicated, has a lot of moving parts and it is quite the challenge to balance this operation. Most notably, the all-important clients must be handled very carefully and certain key account management policies and techniques must be developed, so that mature relationships proliferate.

These days, key account management training is so important as the company develops a line of procedural guidelines, disseminated from the highest levels for clarity. This element is so important that much attention should be given to communication with sales staff through pharmaceutical sales training, with the result that further communication, two-way, between the company and its client is always fruitful.

So important is the level of communication, that relationships between the buyer and seller can hinge entirely on this element, as tenuous as it might be when based on interpersonal and effective relationships between two key people — the client representative and the key account manager at the pharma company.

As soon as a pharmaceutical company knows that a certain account is “key,” pharmaceutical sales training kicks in to ensure that the details of this relationship are perfectly disseminated and communicated throughout the company to all of those who are impacted. This will ensure that any responses are always well engineered and stable. Of course it is difficult to automate every element of the policy; after all, human elements are always present. It must be recognised that there is potential for a breakdown of relationship if too much emphasis is placed on a particular individual at the interface level. Rather, it should be necessary to build a network of channels between the company and its clients, both formal and informal if needed, so that the risk of catastrophic failure is minimised.

The pharmaceutical company would be best served by establishing and implementing regular development, planning and review meetings and exercises, with the clear aim of “over delivering” to satisfy the relationship.

When an important relationship is in the process of development, we should remember that financial considerations are not the only motivators in question and both parties should see the dissemination of confidential information as an important ingredient, going forward. As such, the pharmaceutical company must be well aware of who, within the client organisation, is the key person responsible for receiving such information, clearly identifying the role and ensuring success. Without putting too fine a point on it, interpersonal communication and relationships must be very sophisticated, but it is equally important that the focus is not on the particular personality associated with the individual fitting the role. From time to time a “key” individual may leave his or her role and should this happen, ongoing functionality will not be compromised.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

If you have not engaged in something like this before, buying business assets can be quite a daunting prospect. While it may be somewhat easier than establishing your own operation from scratch, understand that you are taking on, in many respects, the liabilities of somebody who is a complete stranger to you. You can certainly reveal many of the inner workings of the business for sale and consult numerous documents to help you understand what it is all about, but you must be able to read between the lines, and this is exactly why you need a due diligence checklist.

Many of the business owners you will come across are diligent and enthusiastic people, are justifiably proud of their creation and really want their baby to be nurtured and cared for by a new and careful owner, but you cannot assume that this is always the case. This is not to say that you have to assume the worst at all times, but you can never take any statements at face value and always have to be sure that there is proof to back up any claims made. Always ensure that you employ the services of expert analysts as required when you buy a business, including accountants, financiers and business experts.

Primarily, you are now engaged in the process of setting value. Undoubtedly, each of the parties – the buyer and seller, will have a different interpretation of the value of the business. You will not come to an agreement or deal unless both parties are happy, but always bear in mind that you have to set the specifics under which a deal is likely to be made.

When you buy a business, there are numerous steps that you have to take as you proceed through your due diligence checklist, and all of these will help you to reveal the inner workings of the business in question. You may hear references made to industry benchmarks, and they may be useful for information gathering but you should not rely on them. In the majority of cases you will always want to rely on the most recent data and while there are many documents to check, the financials are of paramount importance. Never be tempted to gloss over some of the less palatable financial figures, if a specific business asset appears to be of particular interest to you.

When you’re looking at the value of a business for sale, some of the more important factors include the scale and the level of services available, the potential for business expansion, the age of the organization and the reputational impact in the marketplace. Calculate the level of competition, both industry-specific and geographically and in many cases the most important of all, its location. You may be considering purchasing an Internet-based business or one that does not have a “bricks and mortar” location. Certainly, a physical location is not important in this situation, however you may have to undergo an even more thorough process of due diligence.

Reveal as much as you can as you work through this process and understand how important your due diligence checklist really is. If part of your due diligence process involves the analysis of daily operations, staff behaviour, client interaction and so on, this will invariably take many days if not weeks. As such, you should never be overly anxious to go ahead to close a deal and should be prepared, rather, for the lengthy process you are likely to endure.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

You could argue, in many respects, that pharmaceutical and healthcare consulting firms form the position of a referee, or maybe even an arbitrator, challenging conventions and bringing a real world perspective to bear, both in the boardroom and in the training class. The pharmaceutical company has many, considerable challenges, not the least of which is the ability to generate the latest and most advantageous products for the end-user in a highly regulated and emotionally charged environment. We know that the pharmaceutical industry represents one of the most significant driving forces within any country’s economy and as the stakes are so high, the levels of complexity encountered by pharmaceutical company management at every level are extraordinary. Pharmaceutical and healthcare consulting firms are able to take a somewhat independent role and may even be able to stand back and look at the challenges facing the client company, through experience, know-how and positioning, when the hurdles might seem too great.

With more and more niche products becoming available in the marketplace, an entire industry becoming more mature and a market that is far more educated and immediately aware than ever before, the road ahead is indeed challenging. These days, pharmaceutical sales training instructors must be on top of the game and able to cut through the clutter as they identify and suggest appropriate alternative options. Established tactics may well need to be modified to take into account changes in the marketplace and this may often need to be achieved in short order and without the luxury of advance planning and preparation.

We will quite often find that the client will be looking for some kind of a partnership relationship, rather than just a strict buyer — seller position. Such an account must be serviced carefully, as it is far more sophisticated than a straightforward provision of a product in return for cash. In our modern society, key account management training will help key employees to service these top accounts correctly, whether this means the supply of critical and partial information from time to time, or the provisioning of other business intelligence.

It is certain that we are now living in a communication age, as we have never seen before and we’re all much more educated as a result of this. These levels of knowledge are available to so many people as end-users are far more likely to be aware of what is it available to them, ensuring that the pharmaceutical sales force must be ideally positioned. At this point, pharmaceutical sales training must be sophisticated enough so that the sales force is able to anticipate a wide new range of potential questions and stumbling blocks, most especially when dealing with key account management. Such accounts will likely take on even more importance going forward.

Today, the market is much more dynamic and complicated than it once was. Pharmaceutical company senior management cannot expect to be able to devote time and resources to their own raft of daily tasks while trying to keep on top of such a rapidly changing market environment. This is why pharmaceutical and healthcare consulting organisations should be engaged to bring their level of currency and ability to the table.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

Are we to believe the analogy that “the customer is always right,” under every circumstance? If so, are we to extend this thought, so that we pay the utmost attention, at all times to every customer, under every circumstance? This would surely lead us to the conclusion that every account that we process is “key” and should lead us to implement our best and most comprehensive set of resources to the process of servicing each account. The reality is that not all accounts are created equal – and assessed individually, they mean different things to the organisation. In fact, in many organisations, certain accounts are critical to the very survival of the company, while others are far from so important. The quandary that we face is to accurately determine the correct position of each account. This is the issue — when and how do we allocate our resources so that we service clients accordingly and at what stage do we determine this? We know that key account management is a skill that must be mastered, but in truth many organisations do not have the skill set, experience, education or resources to be able to identify and consequently manage these clients.

While we can define key account management several different ways, ultimately it is the process of looking after important accounts by giving them a raft of services or products, specifically tailored to them and delivered consistently. This sounds rather simplistic and in truth is dependent on many rather complex and interrelated factors. Many a sleepless night could be spent by a company executive, when trying to establish a set of factors that determine how to progress effectively. For example, some customers could be seeking additional value as a consequence of selecting preferred suppliers. They may well be looking for strategic information, the joint development of certain projects or special methods of financing. Ultimately, they may also be looking to find suppliers who are as equally sophisticated as they are and who may be able to engage operational, delivery, sales and accounting methodology according to their demand.

No two key accounts will be the same when it comes to the way that they are structured, the expectations or the behaviour and we can expect to see unusual demands which might be very difficult for the pharmaceutical company to deal with, stretching and straining its resources. It is also likely that a raft of sophisticated techniques will be required to ensure the highest level of delivery and to ensure that the client itself is happy. The underlying challenge is to make the client feel as if their company is the only organisation that matters to the pharmaceutical company.

The pharmaceutical sales training company will discuss and deploy a number of sophisticated techniques during key account management training, and while many of these techniques may be confidential to the company, the end result of this planning and deployment will be an increase in reputation for the company. As it becomes clear to outside interested parties that the relationship is an ongoing and successful one, purposeful deployment of key account management should in turn result in the attraction and retention of entirely new key accounts. Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical sales training always has many different perspectives and potential goals.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.